pages

Friday, 14 January 2011

Balance exercises

On ‘My Journey to Black Belt’ I have just posted an article about the physiological basis of balance and how one can maintain good balance when executing martial arts techniques. Poor dynamic balance (Keeping balance when moving) is one of my bad points and correcting it is one of my training aims.

Intrinsic balance can be improved by doing exercises that focus on improving the senses important in detecting a loss of balance:

Proprioception: proprioceptors must be trained to enable us to learn new physical skills. This enables us to know exactly where we are putting our hands, feet, arms or legs without having to look at them and is an integral part of muscle memory training. In karate terms, training proprioceptors allows us step directly into a stance without looking at our feet or having to make minor adjustments (shuffling), or becoming unbalanced (swaying).

Here’s a couple of core balance exercises that will help improve your proprioception and balance:

1. Holding a 1kg weight in each hand, stand on one leg (keep the other foot low to the ground and close to the standing leg but not touching it). Now, with alternate arms, punch vertically upwards with the weights (10 on each arm). Without putting your foot down in between, punch out laterally (sideways) 10 times with each arm, now punch forwards 10 times with each arm and finally punch upwards but this time diagonally above your head (10 each arm). Now swap legs and do it all again!

I like this exercise because it involves punching! To keep your balance, remember to keep your back straight and vertical (vertical line of gravity) and your standing leg slightly flexed (lowers centre of gravity). This will compensate for the small base of support on which you stand. Keep your head up, your neck straight and your eyes focused forward (reduces visual and vestibular inputs to the brain)

2. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and jump forwards landing on one foot. Hold it for 2 seconds and then jump back again (landing on both feet). Repeat, landing on the other foot. Next jump laterally to the left landing on the left foot and hold for 2 seconds, jump back. Repeat on the right side. Finally, repeat jumping diagonally backwards towards your left and then your right.

I like this exercise because jumping from two feet to one immediately reduces your base of support forcing you to compensate by keeping your line of gravity very vertical. You need to try and jump without leaning in the direction you are travelling. You need to use the muscles in your legs and hips to propel you rather than momentum generated by leaning. If you are a leaner like me then this exercise may help!

Vestibular and visual systems: Sudden rotational movements are what upset our vestibular (inner ear) and visual systems making us feel dizzy and unbalanced. Quick turns and spinning kicks can be very challenging on the balance. Here are some tips for keeping your balance:

Keep your head up and neck straight (i.e. don’t cock your head to one side when executing a technique). I’ve noticed a lot of kids do this. It may look cute but it stimulates the visual system into thinking you are unbalanced because it detects that your line of vision is no longer on a horizontal plane. It also upsets your vertical line of gravity.

When executing a turn of 180 degrees or more keep looking forward until the last second as your body turns. Then quickly whip your head around. This mimimises the swirling of fluid in the semi-circular canals in the inner ear (vestibular system) and stops you from feeling dizzy.

Hi T, I've just watched the video, he's a very impressive guy. I like the way he shows you how to diagnose what the problem is with your side kick and then give exercises to correct it. I'll have to give it a go. In one of Dave Lowry's books he says that you can tell the skill of a karateka by the quality of his side kick, implying that the side kick is a difficult kick to master - I would have to agree with that!

Hi, SueC: You said, " When executing a turn of 180 degrees or more keep looking forward until the last second as your body turns. Then quickly whip your head around. This minimizes the swirling of fluid in the semi-circular canals in the inner ear (vestibular system) and stops you from feeling dizzy."

Is this backwards, i.e. shouldn't you turn your head first then move the body?

Hi Charles, well yes for a 180 degree turn looking first is probably the best thing to do (thanks for correcting me on this) but for a 360 degree turn, unless you're an owl it's not possible to turn the head all the way around first is it? I'm thinking if you are doing the turn very quickly, for example when executing a spinning hook kick in a sparring situation for instance. How would you do this without feeling dizzy?

I love #1. The punching action really gets your blood flowing and always leave me feeling really energetic after a workout. Another good way to improve your balance are power treadmill runs. Switching speeds and inclines throughout the workout will keep your balance adapt to the changes.

This week's fitness program

Push up challenge...

The results for my push up challenge are now recorded on a separate page. See page tabs above.

I'm currently a 1st kyu grade in Shukokai karate. I have just begun an intensive training programme to prepare me for my shodan grading in June of 2011. This blog documents my training and progress. It is a sister blog to my long running blog, 'My Journey to Black Belt'.